You can get comfortable if you think you’re going to play every week. Now he has more competition for his place and needs to deliver.

It’s too early to tell whether Liverpool have bought well but they look in good shape. Dejan Lovren is a good signing but I still think there will be issues defensively this season.

The style in which we play means the back four will be exposed at times. I can’t see Brendan Rodgers compromising and if anything we’ll be even more attacking.

I’m not worried about the extra demands of Champions League football. For starters, I’m a great believer that part of being a great player is being able to play 60-odd games a season. Those who can’t cope will share games between themselves.

It’s a calm group and the manager looks comfortable with the business he’s done. Liverpool still have momentum behind them from last season. It doesn’t feel as if we need to start all over again.

They may not have won the title but over the last four months of the season they were the best team. The players know exactly what’s expected of them and they showed that against Dortmund. It’s there in their memory banks and they are comfortable playing this way.

Rodgers still needs more firepower

I'd still like to see another striker come to Liverpool before the window shuts. We need more cover for Daniel Sturridge but I wouldn’t be a big fan of taking Samuel Eto’o at this stage of his career.

The owners have been strong about the profile of the players the club signs. They need to be a certain age with a re-sale value.

I said when we qualified for the Champions League that Liverpool may have to make one or two signings that don’t quite fit that profile.

If the manager believes Eto’o could still do a job at 33 he should be allowed to sign him but I’m hoping Liverpool look elsewhere and sign a better option over the coming weeks.

Koeman faces toughest test at Saints

Ronald Koeman, manager of Southampton, watches on ahead of his side's visit on the opening day of the Premier League season

I know Ronald Koeman well having played with him at Ajax.

He did a superb job at Feyenoord with no money but the challenge he has taken on at Southampton is very different.

It looks like being a difficult season for him.

Losing the feelgood factor around a club is a big thing and that’s what has happened at St Mary’s.

Koeman has walked into a situation where the fans aren’t happy and neither are the players. He boasts a lot of experience but he will need all of it to be a success there.

He has lost most of the team’s top performers from last season and has brought in a number of replacements who are new to English football.

Koeman really needs the players he has signed to hit the ground running.

With Sunday’s game at Anfield being his first Premier League match, he won’t want Southampton to be lambs to the slaughter. He will try to get men behind the ball and ensure they are well organised.

But if Liverpool attack with the same style they did against Dortmund last weekend then we should win the game comfortably.

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The Editor

Alastair Machray

Alastair Machray was appointed editor of The Liverpool Echo in 2005 and is also editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. He is a former editor of The Daily Post (Wales and England) and editor-in-chief of the company's Welsh operations. Married dad-of-two and keen golfer Alastair is one of the longest-serving newspaper editors in the country. His titles have won numerous awards and spearheaded numerous successful campaigns.